Can I start by saying thank you to the Croydon Advertiser for organising this event. Lee Jasper was asked a question by a member of the audience regarding hthe implementation of a black schools for black children scheme that he wishes to introduce. He was asked some very straight forward questions but dodged them in favour of trying to justify his stance which was not what was required.
Mr Jasper's justification is flawed in a number of ways. Firstly, he cited the Moore House educational institution in the USA as an example of a school which operates under a black ethos and achieves great results. He neglected to mention, however, that is actually a higher educational institution with a selection process and not a high school which accepts students based on geographical positioning. He also neglected to mention that there are many integrated schools in the UK which churn out amazing students year after year that are from all types of backgrounds.
In the past Lee Jasper has attempted to justify his position by stating inspirational black men such as Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela went to all black educational institutions. Mr Jasper failed to mention, however, that Martin Luther Kung Jr only attended such a school because he was raised in post emancipation America when the laws of segregation were still in place. Mandela only attended such an institution because he was raised under the aparthied system in South Africa. Surely Mr Jasper does not want to re create the conditions under which these great men were educated.
When concluding his rant (without answering the questions) Mr Jasper said young black boys are dying and something needs to be done. How insulting to infer that these young black boys are dying because they are being taught by white teachers who want them to succeed. I find Mr Jasper's stance on the issue repugnant and although he would disagree I find them to be racist and offensive. Shame on the other candidates for not countering Mr Jasper's plan to further segregate a community which is in dire need of more unity within its very diverse population. If Mr Jasper gets to read this maybe he could actually answer the original questions which are below;
1. What exactly is the difference between a black, white and asian mans ethics?
2. Would a white person be allowed to teach there? (although he did say yes) how could he ensure that the teachers looked like their students if he did not operate a policy of discrimination against non black teachers?
3. How far would he like to go with this scheme? Should there be separate schools for Indian, Pakistani, White Polish, Chinese children etc?